Both France and Spain substantially increased their imports of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) last month, according to a new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Spain increased its Russian LNG imports by 27%, while France increased its imports by 18% in December, according to the Helsinki-based think tank, which publishes monthly analysis on Russian fossil fuel exports and sanctions.
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The report also found that Russia’s monthly fossil fuel export revenues had seen a marginal 2% month-on-month decline to €500 million per day, their second lowest figure since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
While overall revenues edged lower, CREA’s analysis showed uneven trends across Russia’s energy exports, with gains in gas and LNG offset by declines in crude oil income.
Total crude oil export revenues fell 12% month-on-month to €198 million per day, largely driven by a sharp drop in seaborne crude revenues, which fell 16% to €139 million per day in line with lower export volumes.
Gas exports, by contrast, posted strong gains. LNG revenues rose 13% to €48 million per day, supported by a 16% increase in exported volumes – the highest level recorded in 2025 – while pipeline gas revenues jumped 17% to €70 million per day.
The EU remained the largest buyer of Russian LNG and pipeline gas, accounting for nearly half of LNG purchases and 35% of pipeline gas imports, underscoring Europe’s continued exposure to Russian gas flows.
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China dominated purchases of Russian coal and crude oil, accounting for 43% of coal exports and 47% of crude shipments since late 2022.
India, however, cut Russian crude imports by 29% to their lowest level since the price cap was introduced, led by steep reductions at the Jamnagar refinery, which cut its imports from Russia by half in December.
Overall, the EU was the fourth-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, accounting for 11% of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers. The fourth biggest single country buying Russian fossil fuels in December was Hungary.
The five largest EU importers of Russian fossil fuels, paying Russia a total of 1.4bn euros, were Hungary, France, Belgium, Spain and Slovakia.
CREA also flagged risks linked to Russia’s expanding ‘shadow fleet.’ In December, 132 shadow tankers were used to export Russian crude and oil products, many ageing and inadequately insured, raising the hazard of environmental damage and cleanup costs which could exceed one billion euros for taxpayers in coastal countries.
In October, a report by Greenpeace found that four EU countries, including France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, paid Russia more for LNG than they contributed in bilateral aid between 2022 and June 2025.
The EU last December agreed to ban Russian LNG imports by 2027 in an effort to end dependency on Russian energy, though analysis has consistently shown little letup in the vast quantities of the gas exported to Europe.
